Improving the odds: increasing the effectiveness of publicly funded training

Abstract

Some of the nation's leading experts on publicly funded training examine government efforts to help disadvantaged youth and adults, welfare recipients and dislocated workers. The authors analyze the economic and social context for more than three decades of government-assisted training programs and highlight some of the critical lessons learned. They conclude that longer-term programs focussing on skills development are more likely to make a significant difference in participants' lives than programs that emphasize moving people quickly into jobs. Contributors to the book offer a range of suggestions for improvement of training programs that are particularly relevant to current programs such as the recently enacted Workforce Investment Act.